BY PRIVELEDGE GUMBODETE
NORTON legislator Temba Mliswa (Independent) has accused some bigwigs in the ruling Zanu PF party, army generals and ministers of grand corruption involving a company reportedly linked to the military, Rusununguko Nkululeko Holdings.
“We would like to know from an accountability point of view how much money is Rusununguko making and where is the money going to because, in every area, they are plundering resources in the name of Rusununguko, an army company,” Mliswa said during a question-and-answer session in Parliament on Wednesday last week.
“Rusununguko is a vehicle which you, Zanu PF politburo members, are using to get things. That is the truth. You are abusing it. It is a vehicle in which (army) generals and your senior members are using to steal the resources of the country, yet the war veterans and soldiers are suffering.
“We want accountability. Where is the money Rusununguko is generating going to or else give the resources of the country to the people? Give them to the ordinary soldiers so that they benefit.”
Mliswa was later booted out of Parliament by temporary speaker Martin Khumalo as he pressed for answers after ruling party legislators complained that his question was an attack on Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri.
The Norton MP accused the Defence ministry of not submitting its accounts to the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee for scrutiny.
Muchinguri-Kashiri dismissed Mliswa’s allegations, saying Rusununguko is a private company which does not benefit from budget allocations.
“It operates like any other private company. We have so many companies where (Agricultural and Rural Development Authority) has gone into partnership with the private sector and to single out Defence, where every effort is being made by His Excellency (President Emmerson Mnangagwa) to address the social welfare issues of our soldiers is, to say the least, very, very unfair,” she said.
“Mostly, I want to say that it is speculation, misleading the nation where people do not have facts is an offence, a serious offence. We should not abuse Parliament by raising issues where Rusununguko cannot come and defend themselves.”
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